


an unspoken promise

by catslikemilkshakes



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Awkward Sexual Situations, Comfort, Couch Cuddles, Deaf Katsuki Yuuri, Declarations Of Love, Domestic Fluff, Long-Haired Victor Nikiforov, M/M, Mute Victor Nikiforov, Neck Kissing, Romance, Sign Language, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 14:45:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15997415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catslikemilkshakes/pseuds/catslikemilkshakes
Summary: Soulmate!AU where there's a phrase written on your wrist of something your soulmate will say. However, Yuuri's deaf and Viktor's mute. So they had to be a little creative to find each other and to realize that they're each other's soulmates.





	an unspoken promise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HQ_Wingster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HQ_Wingster/gifts).



> This is my work for the Victuuri Summer Lovin' 2018 written for HQ_Wingster. It was definitely a challenge writing a piece with no verbal conversation but it was fun. As always ao3 formatting was a bitch, so I tried my best to make it look a little better.
> 
> *愛してますよ ー I love you, a variation of it at least.

Sunlight filters through the heavy clouds of St. Petersburg and there are freshly cut flowers on the stained kitchen table. Victor snips each individual stem carefully before adding the flower to the clear vase filled with water from the tap. The bunch is made up of bright yellow sunflowers and warm orange carnations, and cosmos, with pink geraniums here and there. He adds the last flower, a red rose, to the arrangement with a flourish and looks at his handiwork for a few seconds before nodding with a smile on his face.

The kettle boils steadily on the stove, and the song of the birds in the early morning hours makes Victor walk around the kitchen with a spring in his step. He gets two eggs from the fridge along with a fresh carton of milk and sets about making an omelette. Soon enough the egg is fluffy and hot and filled with sautéed vegetables (bell peppers, onion, and tomatoes), cheese and ham. It’s his husband’s favourite breakfast and Victor plans on spoiling him today.

It’s their fourth wedding anniversary after their almost disastrous wedding (Victor almost didn’t show up at all because of his spiteful mother). Victor’s parents weren’t pleased when he introduced them to Yuuri, a man without a soul mate mark. It went further south when Victor mentioned their engagement in passing. His mother in particular still refuses to acknowledge Yuuri as her son-in-law.

Victor knows why his mother is sceptical of their relationship – so many people got left behind and had their hearts shattered, by their partners when a soul mate finally showed up, no matter how real the emotions between the original couple. That’s what scared Victor in the beginning as well – his own mark is covered up by a bandage, no matter what, because he never wants to think about having any lover other than his beautiful husband. 

He also knows that he most likely couldn’t be part of a soul pair as he can’t verbally say the words that are on his soul mate’s wrist. The man took his mother’s words to heart when she told him that he would never find his soul mate because of his inability to speak.

_No_ , he clears his head of the unpleasant thoughts, _Yuuri is still asleep in our bed and I get to wake him up_. He arranges a tray with his husband’s breakfast, the omelette decorated with a tomato sauce heart; a cup of tea and a pile of heart-shaped flapjacks.

Makkachin’s ears perk up when Victor enters the bedroom and her tail wags excitedly. She yips at one of her favourite humans, jumping around on the bed and stepping on Yuuri. His husband groans and sleepily reaches for his glasses on his nightstand. He sits up, yawning, before blinking blearily at the dog in his lap after putting on his glasses. He scratches her head lazily and sees Victor standing in the doorway, tray in hand.

_Hello, sweetheart,_ his husband signs. Victor sets down the tray on Yuuri’s nightstand and kisses his sleepy husband’s forehead. Yuuri yawns again but smiles at Victor. He thanks the older man for the breakfast and digs into the egg dish, his eyes still struggling to stay open. Victor helps himself to some of the flapjacks and feeds tiny bits of it to their eager poodle.

They finish their breakfast in their usual morning silences (the Japanese man trying to fully wake up halts the couple’s conversation). Yuuri runs a bath while Victor takes the empty plates to the kitchen. He’s been staring at the swirling water for a few minutes when he startles at the thin arms hugging him from behind. Victor noses at Yuuri’s neck before leaving a trail of kisses that ends with Victor pressing his lips against a grinning Yuuri’s. They’ve been together for seven years and Yuuri still feels wide-eyed and breathless whenever he kisses Victor.

Later, Victor lies on Yuuri’s soft stomach with his hair fanning around his face, like a mermaid’s, in the warm water of the bathtub. Yuuri massages Victor’s scalp with a sweet-smelling apple shampoo. Yuuri sneaks a glance at his husband’s wrist – the soul mark covered as always. Makkachin rests her head on the edge of the tub, looking at her humans with dark brown eyes. She lets out a low but playful growl. Yuuri looks at her incredulously and shakes his head. She barks at him and he pushes her away, smiling. _Okay, Makka. We’re getting out now._

She follows them back to the bed, her wet nose tickling Victor’s legs underneath his towel and making him giggle. The Russian flops onto the bed, exposing his thighs to Yuuri who then blushes like a high schooler. Victor sees his husband’s expression and grins wickedly. He pulls the other man close and smiles coyly at him, a devious spark in his icy blue eyes as he starts mouthing at Yuuri’s chest and going downwards, getting rid of his lover's pesky towel. Victor enjoys the silent shivers his husband gives and the involuntary gasp Yuuri lets out as Victor takes him into his mouth.

A hot but stinky breath causes Victor’s eyes to open. Makkachin’s pink feeding bowl is too close for comfort and her eyes look at him accusingly. He sputters and almost gags on his husband. Yuuri looks down to see the damn dog staring up at him and his husband dying of laughter. He dies a little on the inside.

_I’ll go give her some food_ , Victor signs. Makkachin happily bounces after a naked Victor on his way to the kitchen. Yuuri frowns at them. He loves Makkachin, truly, but sometimes she seemed too mischievous – especially for a dog.

***

Victor’s hair is braided and up in a tiny bun, courtesy of his Yuuri’s nimble fingers. They’re both dressed comfortably in sweats, curled up on the couch and watching mindless reality tv. The subtitles help with understanding the contestants’ accents along with all the screaming. It’s probably good that Yuuri needs subtitles to watch any show. Victor smiles a little at that. He relaxes as Yuuri’s thumb rubs circles on his shoulder, eyes fixed on the television screen. Makkachin snores in a corner of their living room, sleeping on her doggy bed, on her back with her front legs against her chest.

Dinner is Yuuri’s treat, a pork cutlet bowl - delicious deep-fried pork, eggs and vegetables, on a bed on soft rice. It’s one of Mrs Katsuki’s best recipes according to Yuuri, and Victor is inclined to agree. Yuuri’s katsudon may not be his mother’s, but it was still delicious. _Amazing!_ Victor assures, bits of rice sticking to his lips.

***

“愛してますよ、Victor…” Yuuri mumbles softly against his lover’s exposed skin. Victor’s breath hitches. The bedroom is shrouded in darkness and the covers feel suffocating. Yuuri _spoke_ , he _actually spoke words_ and – he’s never realised that Yuuri could be verbal. As bad as it sounds, he’s always assumed that Yuuri was mute as well. He turns on the bedside lamp before turning to face his lover with wide eyes. Yuuri refuses to look at him, eyes on the dog sleeping at the foot of their bed. Victor cups his husband’s face in his hands. Victor bites his lip and sniffs back tears. He reveals his bandage covered wrist to Yuuri, slowly unwrapping it. There in honest-to-god Japanese script is 愛してますよ. 

The phrase is mostly used for proposals and even then it’s uncommon. At first, Victor was convinced that it would be easier to find his soul mate, well, easy in the way that it isn’t exactly an everyday phrase. It would still be difficult to get to that stage in a relationship, of course, and Victor’s heart was heavy when Yuuri proposed with sign language. Only because he knew for sure that Yuuri wasn’t his soulmate. Not that it mattered, in the end. The phrase did lead to him learning Japanese and meeting Yuuri though.

_Why? Yuuri…_ Victor mouths. Yuuri wraps his arms around a shaking Victor and kisses the top of his head. They sit up on the bed and Victor looks at his husband with red-rimmed eyes. _You really are my soul mate,_ Victor signs. Yuuri nods. _I suppose so_ , he signs back.

_Can it work like that? If only I have a mark – you don’t have something, somewhere else?_ Victor wrote hastily. This late at night the notepads worked easier. Yuuri’s face lights up and he scribbles on the paper on his lap. _I can shove this in your mother’s face, right?_  His husband rolls his eyes and punches him playfully in the shoulder. _I feel bad, but I never knew that you could talk._ Yuuri smiles sheepishly.  _I did ask my mom for help, pronouncing the words and I thought Japanese would be my best option because I wasn’t born deaf and I did have exposure to the sounds. I didn’t want to butcher the Russian because you can understand Japanese, darling._

Victor looks at the unblemished skin of Yuuri’s wrist before placing a soft kiss on his husband’s pulse. _Goodnight, sweetheart. Sweet dreams._

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also not really sure if i did their prompt justice with my limited writing skill but i enjoyed the experience.  
> https://nihongoshark.com/how-to-say-i-love-you-in-japanese/  
> This article I used as a reference for what Victor's soulmate mark is, seeing that it isn't very commonly used.


End file.
